PRAWN AND LENTIL NOODLE SOUP

  Time: 2 hours and 30 minutes
  Difficulty: moderate
  Serves: 4

  INGREDIENTS

• 500 g prawns, whole with heads and shells

• 100 g celery, diced

• 100 g carrot, diced

• 100 g onion, chopped

• 2 litres water

• 200 g canned lentils

• 40 g catalogna chicory leaves, cut into strips

• extra virgin olive oil

• salt, to taste

• 160 g dry Asian quick cooking noodles

METHOD

Remove the prawn heads; shell the tails and devein. Put the heads and tails on a baking sheet, sprinkle them with a drizzle of oil and bake them at 160°C for 40 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside for a few moments.

Meanwhile, brown the celery, carrot and onion in a little bit of olive oil for about 5 minutes.  Add the roasted prawn scraps and 2 litres of water, bring to the boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 45-60 minutes.

Strain, discard the solids, and return the liquid back to the heat; add the lentils, season with salt as needed, and cook for 30 minutes’.

Finally, add the noodles and the peeled shrimp; cook for 3  minutes once the soup comes back to the boil.

Turn off the heat and add the chicory leaves; let them soften for a couple of minutes so that they look like seaweed, then serve.